


High Hopes Oh Heck

by Goldstone_Wolf



Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [44]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Fainting, Gen, Major Character Injury, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Read the character tags they're great, Unconsciousness, anyways should have some gwook whump coming soon, anyways this is only the second of several fics to be published tonight, painful breathing, tws for:, uhh more to be added i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26280592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldstone_Wolf/pseuds/Goldstone_Wolf
Summary: Malark has to make his way through the woods after a fight separates him and Paddy from the rest of the group. However, with no healer and Paddy in critical condition, he’s not sure whether or not they’re both going to survive.
Relationships: Malark Dundragon/Paddock "Paddy" Whitlaw, Paddock "Paddy" Whitlaw & Malark Dundragon, if you squint
Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692196
Kudos: 8





	High Hopes Oh Heck

**Author's Note:**

> Ehhh don’t hate me for this one it’s really bad. TWs are in tags as always.

He could barely feel Paddy breathing.

Glancing back, Malark adjusted the wood elf’s position on his back, feeling Paddy’s chin collide with his shoulder. A soft grunt escaped his unconscious ally, and he winced. “Sorry, Paddock. We can’t stay there, though.” There was a murmuring sound, and he wasn’t sure whether or not Paddy was actually conscious enough to understand anything of what was happening or why they really needed to move at the moment.

Gritting his teeth and shifting Paddy so he was a little more comfortable, Malark kept walking. Things were already bad enough, and the only reminder that Paddy was alive and not dead was the small, shallow breaths on the back of his neck and ear. The wind whispered around them, thankfully much calmer than it had been before. Bright green leaves cast shadows over the path, and Malark stumbled along while thinking that while it was far too bright and sunny, it was better than having to deal with carrying an unconscious elf in the rain and mud. _At least Paddock isn’t all that heavy,_ he mused, shifting the elf on his shoulders. _Come on, Malark._

As they crested a hill, he realised that he could see a town in the distance. Hopefully, Nagar and the others would be there waiting for them. Maybe they’d even have a healer with them. Paddy groaned again, and Malark glanced at him. His eyes were still closed, nose slightly scrunched from where a pained frown pinched his features, and his head lolled against Malark’s neck. If both of them were conscious, Malark wouldn’t dare carry him like that, but if both of them were conscious then they wouldn’t be in the situation they were in at all.

Shifting Paddy on his back again, he kept walking and prayed they wouldn’t be found by anyone other than an ally.

A few hours later, Paddy started coughing roughly. “Paddock? What’s wrong?” The elf was breathing faster, gasping in his sleep, and Malark glanced around for somewhere to put him down. They arrived at the side of a road, and Malark carefully eased him to the dirt. Head lolling to the side, Paddy kept sucking in breaths, teeth gritted and chest fluttering. He was breathing too fast, and there was a wheezing noise coming from his throat. _He must be worse than I thought. Maybe I shouldn’t have moved him._ Grimacing, Malark started messing with Paddy’s jacket, trying to pull it off of him. As he did, his fingers brushed where one of Paddy’s injuries was. It was a nasty slash, starting beneath his ribs on his left side and then hooking up around his back to his shoulder blade. “Come on, Paddock, you need to hold on.” Growling, Malark slapped the side of the wood elf’s face, trying to see if there was any chance of waking him. There was a slight stir, a slight flutter in Paddy’s eyes, and Malark slapped him a couple more times with a lot less delicacy.

Groaning, Paddy jerked once and then cracked his eyes open, blinking a few times and shifting once before going a little limp again. When Malark pressed his fingers to Paddy’s neck to check for a pulse, green eyes fluttered open again to meet his. “M-Mal…?” He started trailing off, eyes rolling up in his head. Grabbing his face, Malark slapped him again.

“Hey! No, open your eyes right now, Paddock. Come on.” With another groan, Paddy managed to do as told. Even with just his hand on Paddy’s neck, Malark could feel the rabbit-like pound under pale, cool skin. Not that Paddy wasn’t _usually_ pale, but this was another level and Malark didn’t like how he looked. “Paddock, look at me. Focus on me.”

Paddy’s gaze met his and he smiled weakly. “Hey…how are…how are you?”

“A little scraped up and bruised, but fine. You’re the one I’m worried about.” Paddy groaned like he was going to pass out again, and Malark shook him. “Hey, hold on.”

“You’re going to…be the death of me…if you keep doing that.” Paddy mumbled, and Malark glanced up at him. “You need to…get me on my back…stop the bleeding…”

“Okay. How do I do that?” Paddy slowly forced out an explanation, coughing painfully. When Malark had to press down on his ribs, the wood elf let out a whine and Malark saw his eyes rolling back again.

“Hey, Paddock. Paddock, you need to stay with me.” Paddy’s eyes closed and his head rolled to the side a little, mouth partly open and expression slack as he dropped into unconsciousness again. “Paddy!” For a few terrifying moments, he sat there with his hands still pressing down on the bloody wound in the elf’s side, heart pounding as he tried to figure out whether or not he had just seen Paddy die. Then Paddy sucked in a weak breath, a hoarse whisper that barely moved his chest, and Malark almost passed out from relief.

Paddy was alive, at least for the moment. Malark just had to make sure he stayed that way.

+++

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed hearing Paddy barely breathing, terrified that he would look over and see him completely still and dead, when someone finally came along the little path.

It was an older woman with a very fat calico sitting beside her in a wagon as they rode down the path. When she saw Malark and Paddy on the side of the rode, she pulled her bay gelding to a stop and leaned over, grey-streaked brown curls falling around her shoulders. “Oh, dear. Are you okay?” She asked, frowning. Malark hesitated, for a brief moment thinking that she might lash out at them in an attack no matter what he answered.

Then Paddy let out another moan of pain, and he decided it was worth the risk.

“My friend’s hurt badly. I don’t think I can move him.” He mumbled, and the woman got out of the cart and walked over. Meanwhile, her fat cat stayed in the driver’s seat, reins in its mouth like it knew full well how to drive a cart.

Crouching down by Paddy’s side, the woman gently touched his face and felt for a pulse. Eyes twitching, Paddy let out a quiet moan. Malark had been forced to turn him over—the wood elf was throwing up blood and he knew that wasn’t good. “Oh, I know what to do with this. Let’s take him back to my cottage, I’ll fix him right up.” When Malark frowns, she looks at him and grins, “I used to be a nurse on the battlefields, I don’t intend on harming you. Come along, help me get him to my cart.”

He obeyed, because he really had no other choice.

When they got Paddy to the cart, the woman made a gesture over him, and Paddy coughed once and stirred again. Cracking his eyes open, he coughed again and then looked around. “M—Mom?” A weak cry left him and he grabbed at Malark’s arms with shaking hands, mumbling names and pleas. Closing his eyes, Malark looked away, felt Paddy’s grip on his arm increase. He didn’t dare even think of trying to move away or do anything else.

Everything sort of blurred by after that. They got Paddy to the woman’s cottage, she took him into a back room, and Malark spent an indeterminable amount of time stroking her fat-ass cat. The cat wasn’t just _fat_ , it was the definition of a chonker of a cat. A very chonky cat. When the woman reappeared, shedding bloody gloves into a waste basket and washing her hands, he sort of…came back to himself, if that was a way to say it. She came over, touched his face, and checked up on him. “How is he?” The words scratched his throat as they came out, edged with thorns.

“Recovering. You won’t understand a single thing of what’s in there, but you can see him if you like. You appear to be fine as well.”

Nodding, he slowly got up and the chonker of a cat led him down the hall. They came to an oak door, and Malark’s hand froze on the brass handle before he turned it. When he walked in, he wasn’t really sure what he was expecting.

What he saw sent another wave of relief crashing through his head.

There was a seat by Paddy’s bed, so he took it. The wood elf was wrapped up in blankets, eyes still closed and something pressed to his face. Since his breathing was deeper, Malark had a feeling that whatever the thing was happened to be the thing responsible for Paddy’s being alive in some way. There was a tube threaded to his arm, secured with bandages and hooked up to a leather bag of…something. Malark couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but it certainly wasn’t magic.

The chonker of a cat jumped up beside Paddy, stepped over his stomach, and then quietly settled down on the opposite side from Malark. It started purring loudly, head over Paddy’s heart. “Huh.” Malark met the cat’s gaze, and it blinked slowly at him. For some reason, he returned it, then took Paddy’s free hand and held it tight.

Settling into the chair, he closed his eyes and listened to the soft inhales from his friend.

**Author's Note:**

> For your information, there was a moment’s debate where I considered having the lady slap Malark in order to heal him. It wouldn’t be the first time that I’d used that method, but then I was like “well, if she just needed to slap people to heal them, then she could have finished up with Paddy literally hours before so she can’t do that”. But yeah there’s that mental image deal with it how you will.   
> Here is the reddit link to the chonker classification, the chonker in this story would be on the smaller side of “Hefty Chonk”  
> https://www.reddit.com/r/Chonkers/comments/acqbd4/heres_a_chart_to_help_classify_your_chonker/  
> Anyways, that’s it for this fic. Hope you have a lovely day!  
> Now, into the fray once more!


End file.
